KAMLOOPS TO VANCOUVER | ROCKY MOUNTAINEER | CANADIAN ROAD TRIP 2016

This was very much an exciting day; our last one on the Rocky Mountaineer, to our penultimate destination of the trip (Vancouver) where we were going to my Great Aunt’s house for the first time.

We slept fairly well in Kamloops, but I always find that whenever I have to wake up early it hinders me being able to completely relax. Looking at the clock as the night goes on and counting down how many hours of sleep you’re going to get is the absolute worst.

Nonetheless, it’s not like we had the most stressful journey ahead of us! As I mentioned in my previous post, aside from people shouting about wildlife sightings, The Rocky Mountaineer is one of the most quiet, relaxing journeys you can take. The only stressful part about this, is making sure that you’re not so relaxed that you fall asleep and miss out on the beautiful view on all sides of the train.

In the morning, we simply left our luggage in the room (they come and collect it) and then strolled onto the bus, that took us to the train where a clean seat and hot breakfast was awaiting. Aside from a slightly awkward encounter with a member of the crew as we were boarding, where he asked how my lips were in front of everyone (to explain, if I eat certain foods, my lips swell up due to allergy. I had asked him on the previous day what a food contained because of this, and he kindly remembered), it was a swift and easy journey.

And that was our only real exertion until arriving in Vancouver. I got up fairly regularly to look out the window and chat to people, including a guy from only 20 minutes from my house in England, which yet again proved how small a world it is! But that was about it. We sat, we drank, we were merry, and it wasn’t even Christmas.

Looking out from the comfort of my seat, it felt like we went through all the climates on that journey – desert, jungle, mountain, lakes, farmland and finally, city. Being on the train feels like a world away from anything else, which most of the time is lovely, but sometimes a bit of a struggle after you’re used to being able to get out of the car/walk off the trail and explore whenever you want. Nevertheless, I know that we will return to those places some day. They’ll still be there.

If anyone knows why there are always logs floating in the river, please let me know; I’m still none the wiser!

I didn’t really know what to expect from Vancouver, aside from what my great Aunt had said and pictures on the internet, but I have to say even from the first glimpse of the place I saw from the train window and then the taxi, I was pleasantly surprised.

She lives in Steveston, Vancouver, which is slightly outside of the city centre but made it a very nice place to stay. It’s a really homely town, and really fun to walk around, because the fairytale show ‘Once Upon A Time’ is genuinely set there. I mean, she basically lives in a fairytale.

Anyway, more on that in the next post where we explore some of Vancouver!

The logs in the river are called log booms. This is where logs are collected before floating them to a nearby log mill to be cut into lumber. The rivers have been used for log transport since logging began in B.C. more than 100 years ago.